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I am tempted to parse

> 全て手配中 **の** もしくは刑務所に留置されていた犯罪者たちです

as

> 全て((手配中 **で** )もしくは(刑務所に留置されていた))犯罪者たちです

meaning

> All are criminals who (being searched for) or (have been detailed in
> prison).

But I replaced の with で (て-form of だ) because it doesn't make much sense to me
otherwise.

Why is の being used here? Regardless, is there a copula being colloquially
dropped after 手配中 (which I assume means "in-the-middle-of-being-searched-
for")?


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2023-09-30T06:29:21.083
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question
particle-の coordination
全て手配中のもしくは刑務所に留置されていた犯罪者たちです


The sentence has a coordination of two parts in the middle (the parts in the
two parentheses below). Both modify 犯罪者たち (as in 手配中の犯罪者たち and
刑務所に留置されていた犯罪者). This structure is possible because the forms Xの and Yていた are
both modifiers of a noun.

> 全て(手配中の)もしくは(刑務所に留置されていた)犯罪者たちです

It basically means that all of the (depicted?) suspects/criminals are wanted
by police or previously jailed.

In speech you will usually have a pause before もしくは. You might add punctuation
to make the structure clearer (but you might omit it for the lack of space).

> 全て手配中の、もしくは刑務所に留置されていた、犯罪者たちです


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2023-09-30T06:55:43.720
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answer


Nothing is omitted in your sentence. Your sentence is an example of [right-
node raising](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/17743/5010). The word 犯罪者
has been pulled out to the right.

  * 手配中の **犯罪者** もしくは刑務所に留置されていた **犯罪者**  
**criminals** who were fugitives, or **criminals** who had been detained in
prison

  * 手配中のもしくは刑務所に留置されていた **犯罪者**  
**criminals** who were fugitives or who had been detained in prison

So this の still modifies 犯罪者. Both mean the same, but the latter is more
concise because you don't have to say 犯罪者 twice.

In case you still don't understand the former, remember that ～中 works as a no-
adjective.


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2023-09-30T11:40:21.487
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answer